Eremochloa ophiuroides | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Clade: | Commelinids |
Order: | Poales |
Family: | Poaceae |
Subfamily: | Panicoideae |
Genus: | Eremochloa |
Species: | E. ophiuroides
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Binomial name | |
Eremochloa ophiuroides (Munro) Hack.
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Eremochloa ophiuroides, or centipedegrass, is a species of grass in the family Poaceae. Used as a warm season lawn grass, it forms thick sods and spreads by stolons. It is medium to light green in color and has a coarse texture with short upright seedhead stems that grow to about 3-5 inches. Native to Southern China, it was introduced to the United States in 1916 [1] and has since become one of the common grasses in the Southeastern United States and Hawaii. It can also be considered a weed. [2]
Centipedegrass is a low maintenance grass. [3] It requires infrequent mowing. [4] Centipedegrass has medium shade tolerance and limited traffic tolerance. [1]
It is shallow rooted [3] and has poor drought tolerance. [1] Centipedegrass [5] survives in mild climates without several hard freezes. With light freezes it will turn brown but recover and re-green as the temperature rises. It does well in sandy and acidic soils. [3] Centipede grass has low fertilization requirements.